Report: LIV Golf Getting Frustrated Over 'Slow' OWGR Process

Recently, LIV Golf CEO, Greg Norman, stated that the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) will become obsolete if they don’t include LIV Golf players, with the 67-year-old claiming: "If they wake up at the end of the year and Dustin Johnson is 102 in the world, is that not a laughing stock to the OWGR? There’s two ways they can go: they can either fold, or they include LIV into OWGR.”

Now, in a report by Sports Illustrated, it is believed that LIV Golf officials are growing impatient at the process that would award them World Ranking points and feel that they are "being slow played" by the OWGR.

WHAT IS LIV GOLF?

As of writing, the Saudi-backed series are yet to be awarded World Ranking points, with CEO, Norman, sending a letter back in August to OWGR. The problem lies around the players who compete on the LIV Golf circuit who want to play in the four future Majors.

All four use OWGR, to some degree, to set up their fields, with the Masters and Open Championship using a top 50 ballot, while the US Open uses a top 60 cutoff and the PGA Championship the top 100 in the World.

LIV Golf "hopes for a resolution," but has not received any feedback following its application. It's worth noting that the process can take up to a year.

One source explained that the process "is designed for a developmental tour, to see how the various aspects of that tour work, to see the level of play. It’s not designed so they can determine whether or not Dustin Johnson is a good golfer."

Just last month, OWGR underwent a new system where each player in a field contributes performance points, which are partially determined by that player’s Strokes Gained World Rating. You can check out the full breakdown here.

Following its introduction, players like Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter blasted the new system with tweets like: "Literally makes all the tours around the world feeder tours. How they could vote for this and get it passed I have no idea," and "they didn’t vote that’s the problem… How was this possible. How didn’t players have that option."

Norman also slated the OWGR set-up in a recent piece for the Wall Street Journal. In the article, he stated that: "The Official World Golf Ranking system determines not only a golfer’s ranking, but also his qualification for major tournaments and the Olympics... 

"The ranking system must be independent if it is to be credible. With a board dominated by the PGA Tour, the Official World Golf Ranking currently excludes LIV Golf events. That needs to change. If it doesn’t, fans and sponsors won’t know who is the best in the sport."